Number of low-end PCs running Steam on the rise

A hardware survey conducted last month by Steam has shown that an increased number of people are using the software on less powerful machines.

The report shows that the number of users using machines with Intel's integrated graphics has risen from four per cent to 11 per cent, whilst the number of gamers using dual core processors to power their machine has risen from 48 per cent to 50 per cent.

Other statistics released shows that DirectX9 level GPUs are used within almost 20 per cent of the system's running Valve's digital download service, whilst the most commonly used screen resolution is 1920 x 1080, which is used by a quarter of all Steam customers.

A variety of different factors are thought to have contributed to the results, such as a higher number of people using laptops to play their games, and a surge in popularity for less performance hungry titles such as Mincecraft and Plants Vs Zombies.

Whatever the reason, it is clear that the number of people choosing to use high-performance PCs to play their games through the Steam service is declining.

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